How Deep House Redefines Queer Love: Inside Jeremy Atherton Lin’s Unforgettable Story
Can love be a revolution wrapped in memory and quiet defiance? That’s the question Jeremy Atherton Lin nudges us to consider in his second memoir, Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told (Little Brown and Company, June 2025). Following his earlier work, Gay Bar: Why We Went Out, Lin sharpens his narrative scalpel, slicing through the intertwined personal and political tapestry of same-sex unions, immigration battles, and the long, winding road toward marriage equality. This isn’t just a love story—it’s a meticulously researched journey through history’s legal minefields, tenderly narrated in the intimate second person, a strategy that pulls you deep inside the heart of a partnership forged amid societal upheaval. From the shadow of DOMA to the complex push and pull of queer activism, Lin’s writing pulses with both lyrical grace and unflinching honesty—sometimes erotic, often contemplative. As someone who’s wrestled with storytelling’s power to echo personal truths within wider cultural contexts, I found Deep House to be a masterclass in blending history with human emotion, a narrative where every quiet detail sings with the weight of lived experience. So, what happens when memoir becomes a lens for justice, intimacy, and stubborn love? Lin shows us—page by page, heartbeat by heartbeat. LEARN MORE
Reviewed by Brian Watson
Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told (Little Brown and Company: June 2025) is the second memoir from Jeremy Atherton Lin. His first, Gay Bar: Why We Went Out, came out a scant three years ago; both memoirs discuss aspects of his relationship with the man Mr. Lin met in 1996 in London, the English man who would go on to become his husband. Both memoirs skillfully blend the historical and the personal, creating works that are both researched and lyrical at the same time.
